clause English · revision 10564

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1225|origins=fro clause|origins=la-med clausa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /klɔːz/, US /klɑːz/, /klɔːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|clause|t=stipulation]] (12th century),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin clausa, close of a rhetorical period, conclusion,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) used for classical Latin clausula, end, closing of a sentence,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from claus-, past participle stem of claudere, to shut (see [[close]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A short sentence, a brief passage of a written work: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline, before 1225 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An article or section of a text is first recorded about 1300,^(Barnhart 1988) and the grammatical sense, one of the lesser sentences that make up a compound or complex sentence, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The legal sense, a separate condition or proviso in a document, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) about 1374 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The original sense of an ending mostly faded from the word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1225 – a short sentence.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – an article of a text; a grammatical clause.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1374 – a legal stipulation.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(grammar)'' A group of words containing a [[subject]] and a [[predicate]], forming part of a sentence.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A separate article, [[stipulation]] or provision in a legal document.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[clausal]]

+ * [[subclause]]

+ * [[acceleration clause]]

+ * [[conscience clause]]

+ * [[escalator clause]]

+ * [[escape clause]]

+ * [[grandfather clause]]

+ * [[in terrorem clause]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[close]]

+ * [[claustrophobia]]

+ * [[conclude]]

+ * [[exclude]]

+ * [[include]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}